2011 Wrap-Up

Dear Friends and Family,

Every year of our marriage/family seems to get better and better, and 2011 did not disappoint. We spent the first part of the year preparing for the birth of our 3rd daughter, Elizabeth Claire. We welcomed her into our family on Saint Patrick's Day, and have been a happy family of five since. The transition from two children to three children was a whole lot easier than one to two for us! Elizabeth is a lot like Christa, in that she is laid back, likes to sit still in a bouncer or swing, likes to sleep in her own crib, and likes to hit those important milestones just about the time I start to worry about her :). She is the perfect addition to our family, and fits right in with our talkative bunch! At 9 months old, she babbles "da-da," "ma-ma," crawls, sits up, eats all kinds of baby food, and is starting to try cheerios and soft table foods. She loves her big sisters, and loves to smile, but can be very serious if she doesn't want to pose for a picture or open her mouth to take a bite of food!
Christa is a precocious 4 year old, who is getting more and more personality every day! She continues to be the sweetest, most caring big sister I could imagine. She readily offers her most prized possessions (her duck and blanky) to both Abby Kate and Elizabeth when they are upset about something. She plays so sweetly with Abby Kate and loves to get a hug or a high five. In fact, that is my latest method of discipline - positive reinforcement with a special gesture. I kneel down on her level, tell her how proud of her I am, and give her a big hug; she beams! If I give one of the other girls a hug, she will come over to me with her arms outstretched and a smile on her face, non-verbally asking for a hug, too. Those are the moments I wish a photographer followed me around to catch :) She's learning to clean up after herself, and can be helpful with some house chores. She can hang all of the kids clothes on hangers, once I separate out what needs to be folded and what needs to be hung. She's a little "too" sweet to Abby Kate sometimes, offering her candy or soda without asking my permission first. She is in official pre-K this year and loves it! She practices her handwriting and will soon start memorizing sight words. We have been working on memorizing bible verses the last few months, and she loves the dry-erase board that we write them out on. She loves our church and gets very excited when I tell her we are going to see Mrs. Jacqueline - her special Sunday School teacher! She's also taking ballet again, and continues to enjoy that as well.
Abby Kate continues to be our active 2-year-old! I won't lie - the first year of her life was tough, trying to keep up with her. She's been determined to do everything her big sister could do since she was born! It was quite a challenge to keep up with her as she learned to crawl and run around on her own fast time schedule. Now, though, I am so thankful for her independent streak! She is the easiest two-year-old I've ever taken care of. She can do almost anything Christa can do without assistance. She freely walks up and down the stairs, plays with toys around the house without constant supervision, and can verbalize anything she wants to very clearly. She is obedient most of the time, and understands when she gets in trouble for something. We are starting to dabble in potty training, and she has tee-teed in the potty two times. She ended the year with a broken ankle, and, as my uncle pointed out, this might be the first of many broken bones for this child :). A little boy jumped on her at the mall play area, but she learned how to walk, and eventually run with the cast in just a few days. She goes to the same school Christa goes to 2 days a week, and loves it, crying on the days we drop Christa off while she has to stay in the car. She says she wants to be a ballerina, too, so maybe we'll have two next year. I am looking forward to Kindermusik classes with her starting in early January. I plan to leave Elizabeth at home and have a little special time each week with just my middle daughter!
Cline continues to love his job at the hospital, and I think I might be finally getting the hang of this whole stay-at-home mom gig :). For some reason, it seems to take me about 5 years to master new skills. I felt really confident as a nurse at about the 5 year mark (ironically, around the time I quit). Christa is 4 and a half, and I'm finally feeling like I know what I'm doing in a few areas such as discipline, home organization, and making time to just play with the kids. I'm sure that before long, they'll all hit new phases and I'll be back to my clueless guesses about how to handle the new issues, but I am loving their ages and personalities right now!
As a family, we traveled to Disney World this August. We had a blast, but I have no intention of ever going in that heat again! It rained most of the days we were there, which we were grateful for since it gave us some relief from the heat! We also took the girls to see my sister in Miami and had a fun few days in South Florida. Sadly, or not-so-sadly, depending on how you look at it, we had to replace both of our cars within a month of each other. Our Honda minivan lost it's transmission on the way down to Miami, so we got a new(er) one while we were down there. A month later, Cline totaled my Honda Accord, so he splurged on a nice truck that we found in the paper.
We are looking forward to good things in 2012!

Happy New Year!